


Palmy

by IreneClaire



Series: Various Notions Collection [24]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, Bromance, Drabble Collection, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Steve McGarrett, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams Friendship, Steve Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 01:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneClaire/pseuds/IreneClaire
Summary: He raised his hand up high and stared at it. It was trembling, but not too badly. Just a tiny waver here and there as if he'd thwacked it against something hard leaving behind a residual tremor of sorts. He didn't care. It didn't hurt. It would go away. What caught his attention more though was the palm of that hand. It was incredibly clean. Spotless in fact. He could see each and every line, crease and old scar. Tiny thin spiderwebs which criss-crossed... here and there.





	Palmy

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Part of the Word of the Day Bromance Series: this one came practically from out of the blue! I have a ton of other things to do, but when the muse needs to be soothed, it must be soothed.

 

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O**

 

 _ **Word of the Day: Palmy.** 1\. _ _glorious, prosperous, or flourishing: the palmy days of yesteryear._ _2._ _abounding in or shaded with palms: palmy islands._

 

Steve giggled. The sound he made - its shrillness - even startled himself and his eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, he wondered if he sounded like Danny; like that weird, high-pitched giggle his partner might make when his guard was down. So surprised by the thought which compounded everything else around him, Steve giggled again.

He raised his hand up high and stared at it. It was trembling, but not too badly. Just a tiny waver here and there as if he'd thwacked it against something hard leaving behind a residual tremor of sorts. He didn't care. It didn't hurt. It would go away. What caught his attention more though was the palm of that hand. It was incredibly clean. Spotless in fact. He could see each and every line, crease and old scar. Tiny thin spiderwebs which criss-crossed... here and there.

He blinked and tried to look at the movement just beyond his hand. It shimmered darkly and Steve couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hey. How're you doing?" The fuzzy shape beyond his hand spoke. But it was still backlit by the sun and offset by the blue of the sky. Steve blinked but couldn't get the shape to sharpen like the palm of his hand. Not even like the leaves of the trees closest to him. Nothing like the green silken leaves of the palms swaying just over his head. _Leaves_? Steve blinked again, immediately distracted by the soothing greenery and Steve's gaze shifted. That couldn't be right. Did palm trees even have leaves? Or were they ... palmy? He didn't know. He couldn't remember. He'd grown up on the islands and suddenly felt vaguely embarrassed by not being able to _remember_.

 _Leaves_ had to be wrong though. Palm trees had big green fronds. Like fans. Big _frondy_ ...palms ... so they were by default, palmy.

He sighed happily as he reasoned it all out before he grinned, then giggled, its tone sharp and loud. _Palmy_. Sure. Why not.

"Steve?" The fuzzy shape was closer now and Steve tried to focus harder when something tickled his consciousness. He knew the shape and that meant that he knew who it was ... _Danny_. Of course. Danny was back and hunkering down next to him in the sand under the palm trees where it was cooler. Possibly even safer, but Steve let that briefly worrisome word slide through his brain like water down a drain.

"It's palmy,' Steve giggled upwards into his partner's blurred face. Danny was nothing more than a blonde sun-tanned blur of golds and whites. Steve couldn't make out a single feature on his partner's face. He could only assume where Danny's eyes had to be or his nose, maybe his mouth as Danny spoke more to him.

"Steven." Danny's tone bespoke of worry and trouble. "Calm down ... you're okay. You're going to be fine. The helo is only a few minutes out now."

Fine? Of course he was fine as a breeze wafted gently over his body off the ocean. It ruffled through the palm trees next, their rustling sound soothing over head. His gaze flickered briefly skywards to watch their sway and he smiled. He was better than fine when things were ... _palmy_.

"Palmy," he whispered around a broken giggle. "Do you see it? It's all palmy. Right?" But his voice cracked and then faded. Was he right? He still had his hand up in the air, his palm still facing his eyes, and he'd just confused himself. Steve stared at an old white scar marring the fleshy part of skin under his thumb. He couldn't remember where it had come from, but that wasn't why he was confused. He'd lost his already sketchy train of thought.

"Danny?" He asked. "You do see it? R-right? It's ... palmy. R-right?" Was his hand palmy or was it the palm trees? He blinked stupidly as Danny covered his hand with his own. "Danno?"

"Hey, yeah. Okay, I see it and you're right... you're right," Danny replied as he knelt by Steve's side in the sand. "Just relax for me, okay, babe?" Steve scowled though, wondering where his palm had gone inside the unmistakable black of Danny's glove. The black of the material was too close, too dark and he couldn't focus clearly on it. He rolled his head to the side and stopped, wincing when an ache flared unexpectedly inside near his ear, his temple, to roll thickly back towards the base of his skull. Something had happened and finally ... _finally_ ... Steve saw Danny's face. The blur sharpened so quickly, Steve's stomach twisted into a sickening knot.

"N-need to get up," Steve said. His legs moved lazily in the sand, his heels digging shallow ruts, but Danny shook his head.

" _Shhh_ , no. No you don't," Danny murmured as he gently pushed Steve's hand back down to his chest. He held it there, his gloved fingers wrapped firmly around Steve's when he tried to pull free. "Relax. Take it easy. You're making about as much sense as a four-year old."

"Charlie's four," Steve said. "What?" Danny suddenly seemed surprised at the comparison. Obviously he'd forgotten just how old his son was. "He's four, Danno," Steve repeated. He tried to roll his eyes when Danny's mouth gaped wide, but he grimaced when his skull thrummed warningly.

"No, no he's not ..." Danny sighed out, his tone now edged with even more concern. Steve watched, confused as his partner scrubbed hard at his face with his free hand. Danny looked upset with him and he didn't know why.

"Charlie's six ... geez, Steven, you're scrambled."

"He's not," Steve insisted stubbornly. Danny had to be - no, he was wrong - plainly wrong about Charlie's age. Steve knew the little boy was four years old. He made a face, squinting as his headache increased, staying patient as he tried to correct his partner's error. "No. Nope. Charlie can't be six, Danno. He's only four ... he's just this big, too."

He tried to free his hand again from where Danny had it practically pinned to his chest to demonstrate just how tall Charlie was now. For some reason, Danny wouldn't let him go though and Steve gave up. Instead, he peered up into Danny's face and smiled, baffled when his friend barely smiled back.

"Little guy," Steve said for good measure, placated when Danny at least nodded in agreement. For a four-year old, Charlie was still a mite of a thing. All blonde hair and sparking blue eyes ... a tiny version of his father with a ready smile and happy laugh. Steve grinned again at a remembered image of Charlie on a pint-sized bicycle in his partner's driveway.

"Four," Steve breathed out tiredly. He didn't feel well; the ache in his skull was toying with the queasiness in his stomach. Nonetheless, he had to make sure that Danny knew how old his son was. After all, how the heck could Danny forget something like that? It made no sense. Especially when Danny had just shown him pictures of small bikes as he tried to settle on just the right one for his next birthday - his fifth which was coming up.

"Charlie's four, Danno. Don't you remember? The bike? You were gonna get him a new ... _bike_. A blue one ... with training wheels." He sighed and then closed his eyes as another ocean-scented breeze whiffled across his face. It felt good and distracted him from the ache in his head which was suddenly over-taking those more pleasant thoughts.

"Musta forgot," Steve murmured softly. "S'okay though."

"All right, yeah I forgot. Just ... rest ... things are gonna be fine." Steve heard Danny whisper and he chuffed a pleased sound which sounded nothing like the giggle inside his aching head. If he could have, Steve would have rolled his eyes when he felt Danny's fingers tighten around his hand.

"Steve?" Danny's voice sounded strained, distant. He tried when Danny's fingers tightened even more, the bones in his hand practically creaking in response, but Steve's lids were too heavy and his eyes were closed for good.

" _Steve_?" Danny's voice tunnel into nothingness. _"Babe? Steve? Can you hear me ... Steve!"_ His own name became nothing more than a hollow whisper in the dark. Suddenly Steve couldn't find the energy to open them at all or to continue talking. He both heard his partner's pleas and oddly didn't at the same time. Nothing seemed to matter. The last thing which teased Steve's mind's eye was the sway of the palmy fronds over his head as a familiar resonant thud of rotors vibrated through his dwindling senses.

 

**H5O* H5O**

Eyes closed, Danny sat on the edge of the chair, hunched over into a tight ball with his knees drawn up to his chest. Every so often, his upper body would rock in place, a result of the fatigue he was experiencing. He wouldn't go home though; not yet. Not until his partner deigned to wake up from a three day, self-induced comatose state.

"I hate you," Danny mumbled into his hands as he caught himself just in time from falling off the hard plastic chair to the even harder linoleum floor. His body lurched awkwardly. It was stupid really. One waiting for the other to wake up so the first could actually go to sleep. Danny scoffed under his breath and then broke out with a short, over-tired giggle.

"Only me. I swear to God, this only happens to me!" Biting back another sharp titter of sound, Danny pushed himself to fall backwards where he sat, his legs now splayed wide as his heels scotched across the floor. "I hate you so much right now. You have no idea. None."

Though they were burning, he forced his eyes to stay open. He probably could have gone home to sleep and freshen up a thousand times over. But the longer he stayed, the more he believed that he'd waited too long to act. The more he believed that he would miss the critical moment. So Danny stayed, camped out and digging in harder while he waited. Constantly second-guessing and then berating himself for not acting because Steve had yet to move ... hadn't moved ... and Danny could have taken a fast hour to himself. But he'd thought Steve had died on him and not just once, but twice. The first time during that very unexpected explosion which had momentarily taken Steve from his sight. And then the second time, on the beach, just before the chopper had landed when Steve had lost consciousness. Danny'd thought the very worst two terrible times and just couldn't bring himself to leave hospital grounds.

Danny stayed petrified even if the doctors had assured him of the opposite. Three whole days had gone by and his partner hadn't moved a single inch. Nothing. Not even a twitch of a finger. The doctors were baffled by it; they couldn't offer a single explanation with their only prescription being to give Steve time ... evidently, his body needed time to wake up on its own. So Danny could have left - should have left - could have taken a good, solid sleep of his own and he giggled again as fatigued muscles spasmed in his back.

"Freaking ridiculous," Danny sniffed around another impromptu throaty burble. "Wake up you jerk so I can go home .. I want to go to sleep."

He stared hard at Steve's face which was pale except for the livid bruise purpling the left side of his cheekbone, upwards into his temple. The scans had come back clean and yet Steve remained stubbornly ... _stubb_... no, _wait_. Something had changed and Danny perked up. He pursed his lips while he got to his feet, unsure at first until he saw it again.

"Steve?" He called out softly as he watched more closely, daring to smile when it happened again. The tiny wrinkle around an eye which suddenly became so much more. The movement across Steve's brow when it noticeably rippled and his nose scrunched up. Scarcely a second later, Steve's eyes fluttered and then opened. After three long long days, they were finally staring at each other.

"'bout freak'n time," Danny muttered in relief. "How're you doing? You feel okay?" He grinned helplessly as Steve focused on his face. But the grin twitched and faded at Steve's first words which had taken a long time coming.

"W-who the hell are you?" Steve asked after regarding Danny for a few minutes. His voice was rough but the incredible question quite clearly reached Danny's ears.

"Say ... what? _What_?" Danny rasped out. Worry flared into annoyance and then right back down into worry as his stomach lurched. "I don't sleep for _three_ days waiting for your sorry ass to wake up... and you want to know who I am?"

Danny's eyes widened incredulously when his partner narrowed his eyes mistrustfully back in his direction. Evidently, Steve was serious based on the stern tilt of his mouth; Danny had seen that look a countless number of times in their own 5-0 rendition room. Aimed at him though. Now. After being scared half out of his mind over three sleepless days? That look, aimed at him, simply wasn't fair.

"Yeah, I do," Steve repeated after a dry swallow. "I wanna know ... who you are." If possible, his eyes narrowed even more and his chin seemed to turn to stone.

Exhausted and on edge, Danny snorted. Loudly. This had to be a bad joke. Some sort of payback or penance for something he'd done wrong in some past life. He rocked on his feet, unsteadily, one hand on the edge of Steve's hospital bed seeking balance. The initial confusion on the beach was one thing, even understandable. Being a little off about Charlie's age and babbling about palmy trees were tiny nits after getting rattled so badly. But this? Now? After three days? It just wasn't fair.

"I'll get the doctor," Danny muttered to himself. "Yeah ... yeah, they'll help. They must-a missed something in the scans." He rubbed at his face again, before pinching the bridge of his nose to chase away an ill-timed dizziness. Steve's waking wasn't at all what Danny had even remotely anticipated and he giggled as he reached for the nurse's call button. First things first, it was the middle of the night and the nurse would be his first line of defense.

"Who am I he asks," Danny giggled uncontrollably now, reactive tears stinging his eyes. "Typical ... he nearly gets blown to shit by an old World War II ordnance or god knows what ... and then... _then_ he wants to know who the hell _I_ am! What are the odds of that, huh? Only me ... I swear to God, how is this my life?" His eyes teared up even more from the onslaught of hysterical laughter and Danny misjudged the tethered remote, his fingers numb as he scrabbled to reach it at the same time Steve intercepted him. Caught up in his thoughts, Danny missed the change in his partner's face ... the sudden spike in concern for him in Steve's eyes. He sure as hell didn't register what Steve was saying next as his knees wobbled; all Danny wanted was the damned nurse's call button but Steve was suddenly fighting him for the remote.

"Gimme that," Danny demanded hoarsely when Steve scooped it away first. "Give it to me! I ... you ... we need to call the nurse ...stupid doctors missed something ..."

"Hey ... Hey, Danno, no. Sit down," Steve said as he tucked the remote to his chest, batting Danny's hands away. "Danny? Sit down, buddy, before you fall down. I'm fine ... it's okay. I was just kidding."

Fingers wrapped around Steve's wrist, Danny froze where he was when Steve's voice managed to sink in through his fugue. He stopped himself then from trying to pry the bedside remote out of Steve's hands.

"What?" Danny whispered, stunned to his core. "Steve? W-what the hell?" He swiped at his eyes to be sure. But the stern expression was gone from Steve's face, as was the haughty coldness. Instead, Steve's eyes were clear, their hazel-blue, a vivid color and lame as it was, Steve was trying to smile. The change was startling despite the way his bruised cheek wouldn't totally cooperate and Danny's mouth gaped wide for a second before he barked out another sharp laugh.

"You rat bastard," Danny choked out in disbelief. "This is funny to you?" There was a long pause as they regarded each other and Steve openly winced when Danny failed at stifling an odd sound which was still just a bit too sharp. Danny shook his head as that need to giggle tightened his chest. He was over-tired and stressed. He knew that but nonetheless, he couldn't stop the chuckle which sparked a surge of tears to cloud his vision.

"You're _fine_?" He managed to ask before the giggles started in earnest. He gestured towards Steve's head, the purpling discoloration along his cheek. "Brain d-damaged is m-more like it." Danny snorted as he glared into Steve's eyes. For a minute he wanted to punch his friend square in the face, instead he could only try to stifle what threatened to become a noisy, hysterical outburst.

"Too soon, _huh_?" Steve whispered as a tear cut loose to roll down Danny's cheek and Danny swiped at it with his hand. "Sorry ... you know ... I just thought..." His voice dwindled away when Danny held his hand up high, a clear signal that Steve stop speaking.

" _Palmy?_ Palmy ... my ass. What kind of word is that? And no. _No_ I didn't see it. I didn't see _anything_! And as far as Charlie goes? He's six, Steven. _Six_!" Danny pushed out breathlessly, oddly satisfied when Steve appeared to be absolutely and utterly confused. He stumbled a step or two backwards then, collapsing with a thump into the chair he'd practically been living in for over seventy-two hours.

"I got him that damned bike almost two years ago ... and it's midnight black. Not blue ... and he's gonna need another new one already since he's growing like a damned weed," Danny mumbled after he dropped his head tiredly into his hands. He bit his lip in a vain attempt to stay quiet. "Brain damaged Neanderthal ... how can this be my life? _Huh_? How?" If he didn't look at his partner's bruised face, maybe he'd lose the urge to laugh like a loon.

"Danno?" Steve was still confused by the tone of his voice alone, and Danny chortled stupidly through his fingers because it wasn't working. Not looking wasn't going to do a damned thing. He was gong to laugh whether he wanted to or not.

"Steve? _Please_ ... just ... just _shut up._ "

_**~ End. ~** _


End file.
